Knowledge = Power

By RitaArts Books

Knowledge = Power episodes

July 03, 2021 Shoe Dog
In this instant and tenacious New York Times bestseller, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight “offers a rare and revealing look at the notoriously media-shy man behind the swoosh” (Booklist, starred review), illuminating his company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.

Bill Gates named Shoe Dog one of his five favorite books of 2016 and called it “an amazing tale, a refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like. It’s a messy, perilous, and chaotic journey, riddled with mistakes, endless struggles, and sacrifice. Phil Knight opens up in ways few CEOs are willing to do.”

Fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed fifty dollars from his father and launched a company with one simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost running shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the trunk of his car in 1963, Knight grossed eight thousand dollars that first year. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion. In this age of start-ups, Knight’s Nike is the gold standard, and its swoosh is one of the few icons instantly recognized in every corner of the world.

But Knight, the man behind the swoosh, has always been a mystery. In Shoe Dog, he tells his story at last. At twenty-four, Knight decides that rather than work for a big corporation, he will create something all his own, new, dynamic, different. He details the many risks he encountered, the crushing setbacks, the ruthless competitors and hostile bankers—as well as his many thrilling triumphs. Above all, he recalls the relationships that formed the heart and soul of Nike, with his former track coach, the irascible and charismatic Bill Bowerman, and with his first employees, a ragtag group of misfits and savants who quickly became a band of swoosh-crazed brothers.

Together, harnessing the electrifying power of a bold vision and a shared belief in the transformative power of sports, they created a brand—and a culture—that changed everything.
13 hr 22 min
July 03, 2021 Empire: A New History of the World
A dazzling new history of the world told through the ten major empires of human civilization.

Eminent historian Paul Strathern opens the story of Empire with the Akkadian civilization, which ruled over a vast expanse of the region of ancient Mesopotamia, then turns to the immense Roman Empire, where we trace back our Western and Eastern roots.

Next the narrative describes how a great deal of Western Classical culture was developed in the Abbasid and Umayyad Caliphates. Then, while Europe was beginning to emerge from a period of cultural stagnation, it almost fell to a whirlwind invasion from the East, at which point we meet the Emperors of the Mongol Empire . . .

Combining breathtaking scope with masterful narrative control, Paul Strathern traces these connections across four millennia and sheds new light on these major civilizations—from the Mongol Empire and the Yuan Dynasty to the Aztec and Ottoman, through to the most recent and biggest empires: the British, Russo-Soviet, and American.

Charting five thousand years of global history in ten lucid chapters, Empire makes comprehensive and inspiring reading to anyone fascinated by the history of the world.
6 hr 12 min
June 23, 2021 Jason L. Riley - Maverick; A Biography of Thomas Sowell
Jason L. Riley - Maverick; A Biography of Thomas Sowell
7 hr 34 min
June 22, 2021Succeeding with AI: How to Make AI Work for Your Business
Companies small and large are initiating AI projects, investing vast sums of money on software, developers, and data scientists. Too often, these AI projects focus on technology at the expense of actionable or tangible business results, resulting in scattershot results and wasted investment. Succeeding with AI sets out a blueprint for AI projects to ensure they are predictable, successful, and profitable. It’s filled with practical techniques for running data science programs that are cost effective and focused on the right business goals.
About the technology
Succeeding with AI requires talent, tools, and money. So why do many well-funded, state-of-the-art projects fail to deliver meaningful business value? Because talent, tools, and money aren’t enough: You also need to know how to ask the right questions. In this unique book, AI consultant Veljko Krunic reveals a tested process to start AI projects right, so you’ll get the results you want.
About the book
It sets out a framework for planning and running cost-effective, reliable AI projects that produce real business results. This practical guide reveals secrets forged during the author’s experience with dozens of startups, established businesses, and Fortune 500 giants that will help you establish meaningful, achievable goals. In it, you’ll master a repeatable process to maximize the return on data-scientist hours and learn to implement effectiveness metrics for keeping projects on track and resistant to calcification.
What's inside
Where to invest for maximum payoff

How AI projects are different from other software projects

Catching early warnings in time to correct course

Exercises and examples based on real-world business dilemmas
About the listener
For project and business leadership, result-focused data scientists, and engineering teams. No AI knowledge required.
about the author
Veljko Krunic is a data science consultant, has a computer science PhD, and is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt.
9 hr 10 min
June 22, 2021 The Catalyst How to Change Anyones Mind by Jonah Berger
"Jonah Berger is one of those rare thinkers who blends research-based insights with immensely practical guidance. I am grateful to be one of the many who have learned from this master teacher." (Jim Collins, author Good to Great, coauthor Built to Last)
From the author of New York Times best sellers Contagious and Invisible Influence comes a revolutionary approach to changing anyone's mind.
Everyone has something they want to change. Marketers want to change their customers' minds and leaders want to change organizations. Start-ups want to change industries and nonprofits want to change the world. But change is hard. Often, we persuade and pressure and push, but nothing moves. Could there be a better way?
This book takes a different approach. Successful change agents know it's not about pushing harder, or providing more information, it's about being a catalyst. Catalysts remove roadblocks and reduce the barriers to change. Instead of asking, "How could I change someone's mind?" they ask a different question: "Why haven’t they changed already? What’s stopping them?"
The Catalyst identifies the key barriers to change and how to mitigate them. You'll learn how catalysts change minds in the toughest of situations: how hostage negotiators get people to come out with their hands up and how marketers get new products to catch on, how leaders transform organizational culture and how activists ignite social movements, how substance abuse counselors get addicts to realize they have a problem, and how political canvassers change deeply rooted political beliefs.
This book is designed for anyone who wants to catalyze change. It provides a powerful way of thinking and a range of techniques that can lead to extraordinary results. Whether you're trying to change one person, transform an organization, or shift the way an entire industry does business, this book will teach you how to become a catalyst.
6 hr 47 min
June 22, 2021 Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World
Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World by out-of-the-box thinker Brendan Kane breaks down the most effective strategies to generate new opportunities, innovate and scale your business, and create a compelling brand - both online and off - so you can thrive in the new micro-attention world in which we live.
A lot of people know who they are, what they do, and a few even know why they do it - but even when brands or individuals have clarity in these areas, they often struggle to grab a potential audience’s attention for long enough to get them to learn about their attributes. Others have amazing products or services that fail to achieve great success because they don’t know how to talk about what they do effectively. This is because digital and social media have reshaped our world into one of micro-attention.
There are more than 60 billion messages shared on digital platforms each day, and the average person is exposed to between 4,000 to 10,000 ads a day. This bombardment of stimuli has changed the way we communicate and market content both online and off. In fact, research shows that you have less than three seconds to capture a person’s attention. With such a short window of time, we need to hook audiences quickly, efficiently, and consistently if we want to successfully fuel brand awareness and growth.
Luckily, Brendan Kane, a thinker and strategist who’s built platforms for celebrities like Taylor Swift and Rhianna and worked with Fortune 500 companies like Paramount, Viacom, and MTV, has mastered the art of standing out. In Hook Point: How to Stand Out in a 3-Second World, he reveals the power of hook points - a communication tool that helps marketers package their messages in a succinct, attention-grabbing way that leads to better opportunities both online and off. Whether you’re promoting a brand, product, or service, this book is the essential guide for making it in our three-second world.
8 hr 11 min
June 22, 2021 Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times and Ideas of Great Economic Thinkers
The final revision of this classic bestseller, the 7th edition defines the common thread linking the world's greatest economic thinkers and explores the philosophies that motivate them. Hailed by Galbraith as a "brilliant achievement", "The Worldly Philosophers" with over 2 million copies sold worldwide, not only enables us to see more deeply into our history, but helps us to better understand our own times. Heilbroner provides the new theme that connects thinkers as different as Adam Smith and Karl Marx: the desire to understand how a capitalist society works. A new chapter conveys a concern that today's increasingly "scientific" economics may overlook fundamental social and political issues that are central to economics.
11 hr 3 min
June 21, 2021 Geography of Risk
This century has seen the costliest hurricanes in U.S. history―but who bears the brunt of these monster storms?

Consider this: Five of the most expensive hurricanes in history have made landfall since 2005: Katrina ($160 billion), Ike ($40 billion), Sandy ($72 billion), Harvey ($125 billion), and Maria ($90 billion). With more property than ever in harm’s way, and the planet and oceans warming dangerously, it won’t be long before we see a $250 billion hurricane. Why? Because Americans have built $3 trillion worth of property in some of the riskiest places on earth: barrier islands and coastal floodplains. And they have been encouraged to do so by what Gilbert M. Gaul reveals in The Geography of Risk to be a confounding array of federal subsidies, tax breaks, low-interest loans, grants, and government flood insurance that shift the risk of life at the beach from private investors to public taxpayers, radically distorting common notions of risk.

These federal incentives, Gaul argues, have resulted in one of the worst planning failures in American history, and the costs to taxpayers are reaching unsustainable levels. We have become responsible for a shocking array of coastal amenities: new roads, bridges, buildings, streetlights, tennis courts, marinas, gazebos, and even spoiled food after hurricanes. The Geography of Risk will forever change the way you think about the coasts, from the clash between economic interests and nature, to the heated politics of regulators and developers.
8 hr 45 min
June 21, 2021The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket
In the tradition of Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, an extraordinary investigation into the human lives at the heart of the American grocery store.
The American supermarket is an everyday miracle. But what does it take to run one? What are the inner workings of product delivery and distribution? Who sets the price? And who suffers for the convenience and efficiency we’ve come to expect? In this rollicking exposé, author Benjamin Lorr pulls back the curtain on this highly secretive industry. Combining deep sourcing, immersive reporting, and compulsively listenable prose, Lorr leads a wild investigation to:
Learn the secrets of Trader Joe’s success from Trader Joe himself

Drive with truckers caught in a job they call “sharecropping on wheels”;

Break into industrial farms with activists to learn what it takes for a product to earn certification labels like “rain forest friendly” and “fair trade”;

Follow entrepreneurs as they fight for shelf space, learning essential tips, tricks, and traps for any new food business;

Journey with migrants to examine shocking forced labor practices through their eyes.
The result is a compelling portrait of an industry in flux, filled with the passion, ingenuity, and inequity required to make this piece of the American dream run. The product of five years of research and hundreds of interviews across every level of the industry, The Secret Life of Groceries is essential listening for those who want to understand our food system - delivering powerful social commentary on the inherently American quest for more and compassionate insight into the lives that provide it.
8 hr 58 min
June 19, 2021 Zac Bissonnette - The Great Beanie Baby Bubble
Zac Bissonnette - The Great Beanie Baby Bubble
8 hr 36 min

About Knowledge = Power

From the publisher's feed

Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Day by day, and at the end of the day-if you live long enough-like most people, you will get out of life what you deserve.